Reporting Listen-Before-Talk Failures in Wireless Networks

Abstract

In one aspect, a method performed by a wireless device is provided. The method includes sending a report message to a network node, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device. In another aspect, a method performed by a base station is provided. The method includes receiving a report message from a wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more LBT failures experienced by the wireless device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and in particular provide methods, apparatus, and machine-readable media related to listen-before-talk in wireless networks. Background Art

[0002] NR in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U)

[0003] Currently, the fifth generation of cellular systems, known as New Radio (NR), is being standardized within 3GPP. NR was developed to provide maximum flexibility to support a wide range of distinct use cases. In addition to typical mobile broadband use cases, supported use cases include machine-type communications (MTC), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), device-to-device (D2D) sidelinks, and several other use cases.

[0004] In NR, the basic scheduling unit is called a slot. For a normal cyclic prefix configuration, a slot consists of 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. NR supports many different subcarrier spacing configurations, and with a 30kHz subcarrier spacing, the OFDM symbol duration is approximately 33μs. As an example, for the same subcarrier spacing, a slot with 14 symbols has a length of 500μs (including the cyclic prefix).

[0005] NR also supports flexible bandwidth configuration for different user equipment (UEs) on the same serving cell. In other words, the bandwidth monitored by the UE and used for its control and data channels may be less than the carrier bandwidth. One or more bandwidth part configurations for each component carrier can be semi-statically signaled to the UE, where a bandwidth part consists of a set of consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs). Reserved resources can be configured within the bandwidth part. The bandwidth of the bandwidth part is equal to or less than the maximum bandwidth capability supported by the UE.

[0006] NR targets both licensed and unlicensed bands, and a work item called NR-based Unlicensed Spectrum Access (NR-U) was launched in January 2019. Allowing unlicensed networks (i.e., networks operating in shared spectrum (or unlicensed spectrum)) to use the available spectrum more efficiently is an attractive approach for increasing system capacity. Although unlicensed spectrum does not match the quality of the licensed regime, solutions that allow efficient use of unlicensed spectrum as a complement to licensed deployments may bring significant value to Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) operators and ultimately to the entire 3GPP industry. It is expected that some features in NR will need to be adjusted to conform to the special characteristics of unlicensed bands and also to comply with different regulations. Subcarrier spacing of 15 or 30 kHz is the most promising candidate for the NR-U OFDM parameter set for frequencies below 6 GHz (although the present disclosure is not limited to such subcarrier spacing).

[0007] When operating in unlicensed spectrum, many regions of the world require devices to sense the medium as idle before transmitting. This operation is often referred to as listen-before-talk (LBT). There are many different mechanisms for LBT, depending on which radio technology the device uses and what type of data the device wants to transmit. What all mechanisms have in common is that sensing occurs in a specific channel (corresponding to a defined carrier frequency) and over a predefined bandwidth. For example, in the 5 GHz band, sensing occurs on a 20 MHz channel.

[0008] Many devices are capable of transmitting (and receiving) over a wide bandwidth that includes multiple sub-bands / channels, such as LBT sub-bands (i.e., frequency portions of the LBT bandwidth with a bandwidth equal to that of the LBT bandwidth). Devices are only allowed to transmit on sub-bands where the medium is sensed as idle. Furthermore, when multiple sub-bands are involved, there are different approaches to how sensing should be performed.

[0009] There are at least two ways a device can operate on multiple subbands. One way is to change the transmitter / receiver bandwidth based on which subband is sensed as idle. In this setup, there is only one component carrier (CC), and the multiple subbands are treated as a single channel with a larger bandwidth. Another way is for the device to operate a nearly independent processing chain for each channel. Depending on the degree of independence of the processing chains, this option can be called carrier aggregation (CA) or dual connectivity (DC).

[0010] Channel access process in NR unlicensed spectrum

[0011] Listen before talk (LBT) is designed to coexist with unlicensed spectrum of other radio access technologies (RATs). In this mechanism, the radio device applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check (i.e., channel sensing) before any transmission. The transmitter can perform energy detection (ED) within a time period and compare the detected energy with a threshold (ED threshold) to determine whether the channel is idle. If the channel is determined to be occupied, the transmitter performs a random backoff within the contention window before the next CCA attempt. To protect the acknowledgment (ACK) transmission, the transmitter delays for a period of time after each busy CCA slot and then resumes the backoff. Once the transmitter gains access to the channel (e.g., the channel is determined to be idle), the transmitter is allowed to perform transmissions for a maximum duration (i.e., maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT)). For quality of service (QoS) differentiation, channel access priorities based on service type have been defined. For example, four LBT priority levels are defined to differentiate between contention window size (CWS) and MCOT between services.

[0012] Radio Link Monitoring in Licensed LTE and NR

[0013] One of the main purposes of the Radio Link Failure (RLF) procedure in Long Term Evolution (LTE) is to assist the UE in performing a fast and reliable recovery without going through RRC_IDLE. This is beneficial in order to avoid unnecessary delays caused by the need to perform Random Access Channel (RACH) access and RRC connection establishment from RRC IDLE. Figure 1 Radio link monitoring in LTE is shown in FIG.

[0014] In LTE, there are several possible reasons why a radio link may fail, including:

[0015] 1) Timer T310 expires

[0016] When the UE is in RRC connected mode, the UE monitors the downlink radio channel quality based on the downlink reference symbols. The UE compares the measured downlink channel quality with the out-of-sync and in-sync thresholds Qout and Qin, respectively. The physical channel evaluates the downlink channel quality and periodically sends an out-of-sync or in-sync indication to Layer 3. The UE Layer 3 then evaluates whether a radio link failure has occurred based on the in-sync and out-of-sync indications output from the Layer 3 filter. When the number of consecutively received out-of-sync indications exceeds the value N310, a timer T310 is started. While T310 is running, if the UE receives N311 consecutive in-sync indications from the physical layer, the radio link is considered to be recovered.

[0017] When the timer T310 expires, the UE declares a radio link failure.

[0018] 2) Maximum number of radio link control (RLC) retransmissions in uplink reached

[0019] 3) The handover fails and the timer T304 expires

[0020] During the handover process, when the UE receives a handover command from the source cell, timer T304 is started. The value of timer T304 should be set to the maximum number of RACH access attempts allowed for the UE to the target cell. When timer T304 expires without successfully establishing a connection to the target cell, a radio link failure due to handover is detected.

[0021] When a radio link failure is triggered, the radio connection reestablishment procedure is triggered. In this procedure, the UE will first perform a cell search to determine the cell for radio link reestablishment. According to 3GPP TS 36.300 v 15.7.0, the UE can select the same cell, a different cell from the same eNodeB (eNB), or a prepared cell from a different eNB, where it can resume activity (i.e., the UE remains in connected mode) via the radio connection reestablishment procedure because the previous UE context can be retrieved through inter-cell communication. However, when a prepared cell is not available, the UE selects an unprepared cell. In this case, the UE must go to idle mode and then attempt to establish a radio connection. In this case, the UE's activity cannot be resumed. Table 10.1.6-1 from 3GPP TS 36.300 v 15.7.0 guides the UE behavior for target cell selection.

[0022] Table 10.1.6-1: Mobility and radio link failure

[0023]

[0024] Beam Failure Recovery Process in NR

[0025] In NR, the Medium Access Control (MAC) entity can be configured with a beam failure recovery procedure through Radio Resource Control (RRC) to indicate a new SSB or CSI-RS to the serving 5G Node B (gNB) when beam failure is detected on the serving synchronization signal block (SSB) / channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). Beam failure is detected by counting the number of beam failure indications from lower layers to the MAC entity.

[0026] The MAC entity will:

[0027] 1> If a beam failure instance indication has been received from the lower layer:

[0028] 2>Start or restart beamFailureDetectionTimer;

[0029] 2>Increment BFI_COUNTER by 1;

[0030] 2>If BFI_COUNTER>= beamFailureInstanceMaxCount:

[0031] 3>If beamFailureRecoveryConfig is configured:

[0032] 4>Start beamFailureRecoveryTimer (if configured);

[0033] 4> Initiate a random access procedure on the SpCell by applying the parameters powerRampingStep, preambleReceivedTargetPower and preambleTransMax configured in beamFailureRecoveryConfig (see subclause 5.1).

[0034] 3> Otherwise:

[0035] 4> Initiate a random access procedure on the SpCell (see subclause 5.1).

[0036] 1> If beamFailureDetectionTimer expires:

[0037] 2> Set BFI_COUNTER to 0.

[0038] 1> If the random access procedure is completed successfully (see subclause 5.1):

[0039] 2>Stop beamFailureRecoveryTimer (if configured);

[0040] 2> The beam failure recovery process is considered to be successfully completed.

[0041] PUCCH SR failure handling procedure (see 3GPP TS 38.321 v 15.7.0)

[0042] A Scheduling Request (SR) is used to request uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) resources for a new transmission.

[0043] The MAC entity can be configured with zero, one, or multiple SR configurations. An SR configuration includes a set of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources used for SR across different bandwidth parts (BWPs) and cells. For logical channels, at most one PUCCH resource for SR is configured per BWP.

[0044] Each SR configuration corresponds to one or more logical channels. Each logical channel can be mapped to zero or one SR configuration, which is configured through RRC.

[0045] If an SR is triggered and there is no other pending SR corresponding to the same SR configuration, the MAC entity shall set the SR_COUNTER of the corresponding SR configuration to 0.

[0046] When an SR is triggered, it is considered pending until it is canceled. All pending SRs triggered before the MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) component are canceled and each corresponding sr-ProhibitTimer is stopped when: a MAC PDU is transmitted and that PDU includes a Buffer Status Report (BSR) MAC Control Element (CE) containing the buffer status up to and including the last event that triggered a BSR before the MAC PDU component. All pending SRs are canceled when an uplink (UL) grant is available to accommodate all pending data available for transmission.

[0047] Only PUCCH resources on the BWP that are active at the time of the SR transmission opportunity are considered valid.

[0048] As long as at least one SR is pending, then for each pending SR, the MAC entity shall:

[0049] 1> If the MAC entity is not configured with valid PUCCH resources for the pending SR:

[0050] 2> Initiate a random access procedure on the SpCell (see subclause 5.1 of TS 38.321v 15.7.0) and cancel the pending SR.

[0051] 1> Otherwise, for the SR configuration corresponding to the pending SR:

[0052] 2> When the MAC entity has an SR transmission opportunity on a valid PUCCH resource for the configured SR; and

[0053] 2> If sr-ProhibitTimer is not running at the time of SR transmission; and

[0054] 2> If the PUCCH resources used for the SR transmission opportunity do not overlap with the measurement gap; and

[0055] 2> If the PUCCH resources used for SR transmission opportunity do not overlap with UL-SCH resources:

[0056] 3>If SR_COUNTER <sr-TransMax:

[0057] 4>Increment SR_COUNTER by 1;

[0058] 4> Instruct the physical layer to signal SR on a valid PUCCH resource used for SR;

[0059] 4>Start sr-ProhibitTimer.

[0060] 3> Otherwise:

[0061] 4> Notify RRC to release PUCCH for all serving cells;

[0062] 4> Notify RRC to release the sounding reference signal (SRS) for all serving cells;

[0063] 4> Clear any configured downlink allocations and uplink permissions;

[0064] 4> Initiate a random access procedure on the SpCell (see subclause 5.1 of TS 38.321 v 15.7.0) and cancel all pending SRs.

[0065] NOTE: When the MAC entity has multiple overlapping valid PUCCH resources for SR transmission opportunities, the selection of which valid PUCCH resource to use for SR signaling is left to the UE implementation.

[0066] The MAC entity may stop an ongoing random access procedure (if any) that has been initiated by the MAC entity prior to the MAC PDU component due to the absence of a pending SR for the configured valid PUCCH resources. Such a random access procedure may be stopped if: a MAC PDU is sent using an UL grant other than the UL grant provided by the random access response and the PDU includes a BSR MAC CE containing the buffer status up to and including the last event that triggered a BSR (see subclause 5.4.5 of TS 38.321 v 15.7.0) prior to the MAC PDU component, or the UL grant can accommodate all pending data available for transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0067] There are specific challenges at present.

[0068] NR-U is expected to operate in the following deployment scenarios:

[0069] Carrier aggregation between licensed band NR (PCell) and NR-U (SCell)

[0070] NR-U SCell can have both DL and UL, or only DL.

[0071] Dual connectivity between licensed band LTE (PCell) and NR-U (PSCell)

[0072] Independent NR-U

[0073] NR cell with DL in unlicensed band and UL in licensed band

[0074] Dual connectivity between licensed band NR (PCell) and NR-U (PSCell)

[0075] Therefore, NR unlicensed operation needs to support both standalone scenarios and dual connectivity (DC) scenarios, which means that both RACH signaling and PUCCH-SR signaling need to be sent on the unlicensed spectrum cell, since the NR-U cell can operate as a primary cell. At the same time, by reusing the same mechanism as in licensed NR, a radio link monitoring function can be defined, where SSB or CSI-RS can be configured for radio link monitoring (RLM) purposes. It was discussed in RAN1 whether / how the discovery reference signal (DRS) in LTE Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) / Enhanced LAA (eLAA) / Further Enhanced LAA (feLAA) will also be supported for NR-U. In any case, before any uplink or downlink transmission, LBT operation must be performed in order to gain access to the channel.

[0076] In one case, an NR-U UE may experience persistent LBT failure during uplink transmissions (e.g., Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) or PUCCH-SR, Sounding Reference Signal, or data transmission). In another case, a gNB may experience persistent LBT failure for downlink (DL) transmissions (e.g., DRS, Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), or data).

[0077] A baseline mechanism for detecting so-called "persistent LBT failures" has been defined and further enhancements are not excluded:

[0078] Defines the threshold number of LBT failures that triggers a "continuous" LBT failure event.

[0079] • Both timers and counters are introduced.

[0080] When a UL LBT failure occurs, the timer is started / restarted.

[0081] • The counter is reset when the timer expires and is incremented when a UL LBT failure occurs.

[0082] However, no mechanism is specified for reporting such events to the network.

[0083] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and its embodiments can provide solutions to these and other challenges. A reporting mechanism for LBT failures in active BWPs in unlicensed systems is proposed. This reporting mechanism can be triggered periodically or based on events. Upon receiving a report message from a reporting UE, the network can better and more quickly select appropriate actions for one or more UEs, thereby helping UEs experiencing LBT failures and / or high channel occupancy recover from LBT failures.

[0084] Various embodiments are provided herein to address one or more of the issues disclosed herein. In a first aspect, a method performed by a wireless device is provided. The method includes sending a report message to a network node, the report message including an indication of one or more Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0085] In a second aspect, a method performed by a base station is provided. The method includes receiving a report message from a wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0086] Also provided are apparatus and machine-readable media for performing the methods according to the first and second aspects.

[0087] Certain embodiments can provide one or more technical advantages. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure can allow a network (e.g., a network node such as an NR-U gNB) to receive relevant information about LBT failure / success statistics for a UE and about the channel occupancy conditions perceived by the connected UE, so that the network can take appropriate and informed actions to handle problem situations involving high channel occupancy. In some embodiments, a failure report can be triggered before an RLF is triggered, or the UE can switch to another active BWP without triggering an RLF. In either case, the network is notified of the LBT failure so that the network can take any mitigating actions before the RLF. Using a specific reporting message for LBT failure can achieve greater benefits compared to a pure RRC re-establishment procedure.

[0088] The network can take better and faster actions in response to detected failures. For example, by accurately reporting the cause of LBT failure, the network can take further actions, such as updating the UE's radio access network (RAN) configuration, reconfiguring UE groups to save signaling overhead, etc. The network can better control the performance of the UE and make better use of the available spectrum. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0089] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating radio link monitoring of a serving cell followed by RRC re-establishment with a target cell;

[0090] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method performed by a wireless device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0091] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a virtualization device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0092] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method performed by a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0093] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a virtualization device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0094] Figure 6 shows a wireless network according to some embodiments;

[0095] Figure 7 shows a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0096] Figure 8 illustrates a virtualized environment according to some embodiments;

[0097] Figure 9 shows a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediary network according to some embodiments;

[0098] Figure 10 shows a host computer communicating with a user device via a base station over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments;

[0099] Figures 11 to 14 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0100] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided merely as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. Additional information can also be found in the documents provided in the appendix.

[0101] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a UE utilizing unlicensed spectrum (e.g., served by an NR-U system) sends a report message to a network node (e.g., its serving base station (e.g., gNB)), which includes an indication of one or more LBT failures experienced by the UE. Multiple reporting mechanisms are proposed, and in some embodiments, different reporting mechanisms are provided for different deployment scenarios. Upon receiving the report message from the UE, the network can take appropriate actions to reconfigure the UE (and / or other UEs that may also suffer from LBT failures). In this way, both latency and signaling overhead can be reduced. The present disclosure is not limited to NR-U, but can be applied to other unlicensed spectrum systems (especially cellular systems) such as LAA / eLAA / feLAA / MulteFire.

[0102] The following will target Figure 2 and 4 Describing the embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail, Figure 2 and 4 Methods performed by a wireless device (eg, UE) and a network node (eg, base station) are described separately.

[0103] Figure 2 A method according to a particular embodiment is depicted. The method may be performed by a wireless device (e.g., a UE) utilizing unlicensed spectrum. For example, the wireless device may communicate with a cellular network such as NR-U, LAA, eLAA, feLAA, MulteFire, or the like. The wireless device may correspond to the wireless device 610 or the UE 700 described below.

[0104] The method begins at step 202, where the wireless device receives a configuration message from a network node (e.g., a serving network node such as a base station) including an indication of a configuration for reporting LBT failures experienced by the wireless device. The network node may correspond to the network node 660 described below.

[0105] The configuration message may be sent by the network node via dedicated signaling for the wireless device (e.g., via RRC signaling) or broadcast (e.g., via system information). In one embodiment, multiple configurations for reporting LBT failure may be provided to the wireless device, wherein the network dynamically signals (e.g., via a configuration message or other configuration message) an indication of a selected configuration to be used by the wireless device from the multiple configurations. In the latter case, the indication of the selected configuration may be signaled via DCI or MAC CE-based signaling. The configuration for reporting LBT failure may differ between different scenarios (e.g., between different services accessed by the wireless device; between different logical channels or logical channel groups; or between different channel access priority levels). Therefore, the configuration indicated in the configuration message may also be specific to different services accessed by the wireless device; different logical channels or logical channel groups; or different channel access priority levels.

[0106] The configuration itself may include configuration of one or more of the following parameters: a trigger for sending a report message (e.g., periodic, event-triggered, etc.); in the case where the transmission of the report message is event-triggered, details of the triggering event (e.g., the number of detected LBT failures or detected persistent LBT failures, a threshold for channel occupancy, etc.); a mechanism for sending the report message (e.g., radio resources to be used for sending the report message, the physical channel on which the report message should be sent, etc.); information to be included in the report message (e.g., LBT statistics, requested mitigation actions, etc.); one or more mitigation actions to be taken when a persistent LBT failure is detected, such as a pre-configured BWP / cell to switch to.

[0107] In step 204, the wireless device experiences one or more LBT failures. Such LBT failures may occur when the wireless device attempts to gain access to a channel on an unlicensed spectrum before transmitting on the channel. When attempting to gain access to the channel, the wireless device performs an LBT procedure, which includes listening to the channel for a period of time before transmitting. For example, the wireless device may utilize energy detection (ED) to measure the energy received on the channel and compare the energy to a threshold to determine whether the channel is idle. In another example, the wireless device may utilize signal detection (SD) to detect the signals of one or more other wireless devices on the channel and, therefore, determine whether the channel is idle. In either case, if the channel is not idle (i.e., the channel is busy or occupied), the wireless device may back off for a period of time before retrying to gain access to the channel (and performing other LBT procedures).

[0108] In some embodiments, a wireless device can detect an event known as a persistent LBT failure, where the wireless device experiences a threshold number of LBT failures, typically within a short period of time. A wireless device that implements a counter and timer can detect a persistent LBT failure. The timer is started or restarted upon experiencing an LBT failure. The counter is incremented upon experiencing an LBT failure and reset upon expiration of the timer. A persistent LBT failure is detected when the counter reaches a threshold. This mechanism effectively detects a persistent LBT failure when the wireless device experiences a threshold number of LBT failures, where each LBT failure occurs within a short period of time of the immediately preceding LBT failure.

[0109] In step 206, the wireless device sends a report message to the network node, the report message including an indication of one or more LBT failures experienced by the wireless device (e.g., in step 204). In one embodiment, the one or more LBT failures indicated by the wireless device include an indication of a persistent LBT failure (e.g., as defined above).

[0110] The indication may relate to one or more LBT failures experienced on a particular portion of the bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device (e.g., a particular bandwidth portion). Where the wireless device is configured with multiple such bandwidth portions, the report message may include a respective indication of the LBT failures experienced on each bandwidth portion.

[0111] The network node to which the report message is sent may be a serving network node (e.g., a base station such as a gNB). The network node may be the same network node as the network node providing the channel on which the LBT failure occurred, or a different network node. In an embodiment in which the wireless device receives the configuration message in step 202, transmission of the report message may be based on the configuration indicated by the configuration message.

[0112] As described above, a report message may be sent when a wireless device detects a triggering event. For example, the wireless device may experience a threshold number of LBT failures occurring within a period of time, or experience persistent LBT failures (e.g., as defined above), or experience a channel occupancy exceeding a threshold. A triggering event may be defined or configured to occur prior to a radio link failure (RLF). For example, where an RLF may be detected after a first number of LBT failures, a report message may be triggered after a second number of LBT failures that is less than the first number. Where an RLF may be detected when a channel occupancy satisfies a first threshold, a report message may be triggered when the channel occupancy satisfies a second threshold that is less than the first threshold.

[0113] The report message may be formatted in a variety of different ways. For example, in different embodiments of the present disclosure, the report message may be transmitted via a transmission on a physical random access channel (PRACH), such as msg1, msg3, or msgA; alternatively or additionally, the report message may be transmitted via a transmission on an uplink control channel (e.g., a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)); alternatively or additionally, the report message may be formatted in the MAC layer (e.g., as a control element or in a MAC subheader); alternatively or additionally, the report message may be formatted in the RRC layer (e.g., as a new dedicated RRC signaling message, or as part of another RRC signaling message).

[0114] For example, in one embodiment, dedicated resources (e.g., on a random access channel such as PRACH) are configured for reporting LBT failures. The dedicated resources may include one or more of: a transmission frequency; a time resource (e.g., a time slot, a time interval (TTI), an OFDM symbol, etc.); or a random access preamble. By using the dedicated resources to send a report message, the network node is informed that the wireless device has experienced an LBT failure (e.g., an LBT failure that meets criteria specified in the LBT reporting configuration). In one embodiment, the report message sent using the dedicated resources is a random access preamble or msg1 in a random access procedure.

[0115] In another embodiment, the report message may be included in a different transmission in the random access procedure, such as Msg3 in the four-step random access procedure, or in the payload of MsgA in the four-step random access procedure. In this case, the report message may be sent using any suitable resource. The report message may include a field in a MAC control element (CE) or a MAC subheader, or an RRC signaling message (e.g., in Msg3 or MsgA).

[0116] A MAC CE may be configured or defined for the purpose of reporting an LBT failure. This MAC CE may be a new MAC CE dedicated to reporting an LBT failure, or may reuse an existing MAC CE. In the case where a new MAC CE is defined (e.g., referred to as an LBT Failure / Channel Occupancy (CO) MAC CE), a new Logical Channel Identifier (LCH ID) may be introduced. The new MAC CE may not contain payload bits. In this case, the new MAC CE, together with an identifier (e.g., a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE), will indicate to the network which wireless device has experienced an LBT failure.

[0117] Alternatively, the report message may include RRC signaling, such as a new RRC signaling message introduced to report LBT failure. The new message may be named, for example, "lbtFailure-Info". Alternatively, the UE may use an existing RRC signaling message to report the occurrence of LBT failure. One or more RRC information elements (IEs) may be introduced accordingly.

[0118] As described above, in another embodiment, the report message can be sent via a control channel (e.g., PUCCH). In this embodiment, separate control channel resources (e.g., transmission frequency resources and / or time resources) can be allocated for this purpose. Alternatively or additionally, a new PUCCH format can be defined, or an existing PUCCH format can be used to send the report message. In one example, the report message utilizes PUCCH scheduling request (SR) signaling combined with transmission using specific PUCCH resources to indicate LBT failure.

[0119] Thus, in some embodiments, the report message may not include any information other than an indication that the wireless device has experienced one or more LBT failures, such as where the report message comprises msg1 or other message sent on dedicated resources.

[0120] In other embodiments, the report message may include additional information, such as one or more of the following:

[0121] • An indication of the event that triggered the transmission of the report message.

[0122] An indication that the number of LBT failures has reached a predefined threshold.

[0123] • Channel occupancy, for example based on Radio Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

[0124] LBT statistics, such as one or more of the following: number of LBT failures and / or successes, LBT failure / success rate (e.g., calculated or averaged over a specific period, or using an exponential average of consecutive periods), LBT failure rate (e.g., calculated or averaged over a specific period, or using an exponential average of consecutive periods). Any or all of these statistics may be reported per LBT type, per channel access priority class (CAPC), per transmission direction (e.g., UL or DL), per service, per LCH, or per logical channel group (LCG).

[0125] One or more radio quality indicators, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), RSSI, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR), etc.

[0126] Service QoS indicators, such as delay, packet loss, priority, jitter, etc.

[0127] Buffer status reporting.

[0128] Power headroom reporting.

[0129] • An indication of one or more of the following: the cell, bandwidth part (BWP), carrier, channel, sub-band, and public land mobile network (PLMN) on which LBT failure is experienced or suffers from LBT failure or high channel occupancy.

[0130] An indication of one or more recovery or mitigation actions that the wireless device will preferably take to recover from or mitigate an LBT failure. Mitigation actions may include one or more of: handover to another cell; cell activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; bandwidth part activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; carrier activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; channel activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; subband activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; RRC connection establishment; and RRC state switch. An indication (e.g., an index) of a new cell / BWP / carrier / channel / subband to which the wireless device will preferably be handed over may also be included.

[0131] In the case where the wireless device is configured with multiple serving cells, the report message may include an indication of one or more LBT failures experienced on cells other than the cell in which the report message is sent. For example, in the case where an LBT failure is detected in a serving cell (e.g., an SCell), the UE may report the occurrence of an LBT failure in another active serving cell (i.e., a primary cell or another SCell).

[0132] In step 208, the wireless device performs one or more mitigation actions. These actions may be directed by the network node (and may correspond to the preferred mitigation actions indicated in the report message), or may be autonomous actions of the wireless device. For example, the wireless device may switch to the default BWP (or other active BWP, if multiple active BWPs are supported) or initiate RRC connection reestablishment in another cell without even waiting for RLF declaration.

[0133] It will be noted that in some embodiments, reporting of LBT failures may be periodic, or otherwise not triggered by detection of one or more LBT failures. In such cases, a report message for LBT failures may be sent regardless of whether the wireless device has experienced any LBT failures (in which case the report message may therefore include an indication that the wireless device has not experienced an LBT failure).

[0134] Figure 3shows that in wireless networks (such as Figure 6 The schematic block diagram of the apparatus 300 in the wireless network shown in FIG. Figure 6 The apparatus 300 is operable to perform the reference Figure 2 The example methods described herein and any other processes or methods that may be disclosed herein. It will also be understood that Figure 2 The method does not have to be performed only by the apparatus 300. At least some operations of the method may be performed by one or more other entities.

[0135] The virtual device 300 may include processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers and other digital hardware (which may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc.). The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory, a cache memory, a flash memory device, an optical storage device, etc. In various embodiments, the program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the sending unit 302 and any other suitable units of the device 300 to perform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0136] like Figure 3 As shown, the apparatus 300 includes a transmitting unit 302. The transmitting unit 302 is configured to transmit a report message to a network node, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0137] Figure 4 A method according to a particular embodiment is depicted. The method may be performed by a network node (e.g., a base station, gNB, etc.) utilizing unlicensed spectrum. For example, the network node may be implemented in a cellular network such as NR-U, LAA, eLAA, feLAA, MulteFire, etc. The network node may correspond to the wireless device 660 described below.

[0138] The method begins at step 402, where a network node causes a configuration message to be sent to a wireless device, the configuration message including an indication of a configuration for reporting LBT failures experienced by the wireless device.The wireless device may correspond to the wireless device 610 or the UE 700 described below.

[0139] The configuration message may be sent by the network node via dedicated signaling for the wireless device (e.g., via RRC signaling) or broadcast (e.g., via system information). In one embodiment, multiple configurations for reporting LBT failure may be provided to the wireless device, wherein the network dynamically signals (e.g., via a configuration message or other configuration message) an indication of a selected configuration to be used by the wireless device from the multiple configurations. In the latter case, the indication of the selected configuration may be signaled via DCI or MAC CE-based signaling. The configuration for reporting LBT failure may differ between different scenarios (e.g., between different services accessed by the wireless device; between different logical channels or logical channel groups; or between different channel access priority levels). Therefore, the configuration indicated in the configuration message may also be specific to different services accessed by the wireless device; different logical channels or logical channel groups; or different channel access priority levels.

[0140] The configuration itself may include configuration of one or more of the following parameters: a trigger for sending a report message (e.g., periodic, event-triggered, etc.); in the case where the transmission of the report message is event-triggered, details of the triggering event (e.g., the number of detected LBT failures or detected persistent LBT failures, a threshold for channel occupancy, etc.); a mechanism for sending the report message (e.g., radio resources to be used for sending the report message, the physical channel on which the report message should be sent, etc.); information to be included in the report message (e.g., LBT statistics, requested mitigation actions, etc.); one or more mitigation actions to be taken when a persistent LBT failure is detected, such as a pre-configured BWP / cell to switch to.

[0141] In step 404, the network node receives a report message from the wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more LBT failures experienced by the wireless device. In one embodiment, the one or more LBT failures indicated by the wireless device include an indication of a persistent LBT failure (e.g., as defined above).

[0142] The indication may relate to one or more LBT failures experienced on a particular portion of the bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device (e.g., a particular bandwidth portion). Where the wireless device is configured with multiple such bandwidth portions, the report message may include a respective indication of the LBT failures experienced on each bandwidth portion.

[0143] The network node may be the same network node as the network node providing the channel on which the LBT failure occurred, or a different network node. In embodiments where the wireless device receives the configuration message in step 402, transmission of the report message may be according to the configuration indicated by the configuration message.

[0144] As described above, a report message may be sent when a wireless device detects a triggering event. For example, the wireless device may experience a threshold number of LBT failures occurring within a period of time, or experience persistent LBT failures (e.g., as defined above), or experience a channel occupancy exceeding a threshold. A triggering event may be defined or configured to occur prior to a radio link failure (RLF). For example, where an RLF may be detected after a first number of LBT failures, a report message may be triggered after a second number of LBT failures that is less than the first number. Where an RLF may be detected when a channel occupancy satisfies a first threshold, a report message may be triggered when the channel occupancy satisfies a second threshold that is less than the first threshold.

[0145] The report message may be formatted in a variety of different ways. For example, in different embodiments of the present disclosure, the report message may be transmitted via a transmission on a physical random access channel (PRACH), such as msg1, msg3, or msgA; alternatively or additionally, the report message may be transmitted via a transmission on an uplink control channel (e.g., a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)); alternatively or additionally, the report message may be formatted in the MAC layer (e.g., as a control element or in a MAC subheader); alternatively or additionally, the report message may be formatted in the RRC layer (e.g., as a new dedicated RRC signaling message, or as part of another RRC signaling message).

[0146] For example, in one embodiment, dedicated resources (e.g., on a random access channel such as PRACH) are configured for reporting LBT failures. The dedicated resources may include one or more of: a transmission frequency; a time resource (e.g., a time slot, a time interval (TTI), an OFDM symbol, etc.); or a random access preamble. By using the dedicated resources to send a report message, the network node is informed that the wireless device has experienced an LBT failure (e.g., an LBT failure that meets criteria specified in the LBT reporting configuration). In one embodiment, the report message sent using the dedicated resources is a random access preamble or msg1 in a random access procedure.

[0147] In another embodiment, the report message may be included in a different transmission in the random access procedure, such as Msg3 in the four-step random access procedure, or in the payload of MsgA in the four-step random access procedure. In this case, the report message may be sent using any suitable resource. The report message may include a field in a MAC control element (CE) or a MAC subheader, or an RRC signaling message (e.g., in Msg3 or MsgA).

[0148] A MAC CE may be configured or defined for the purpose of reporting an LBT failure. This MAC CE may be a new MAC CE dedicated to reporting an LBT failure, or may reuse an existing MAC CE. In the case where a new MAC CE is defined (e.g., referred to as an LBT Failure / CO MAC CE), a new Logical Channel Identifier (LCH ID) may be introduced. The new MAC CE may not contain payload bits. In this case, the new MAC CE, together with an identifier (e.g., a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE), will indicate to the network which wireless device has experienced an LBT failure.

[0149] Alternatively, the report message may include RRC signaling, such as a new RRC signaling message introduced to report LBT failure. The new message may be named, for example, "lbtFailure-Info". Alternatively, the UE may use an existing RRC signaling message to report the occurrence of LBT failure. One or more RRC information elements (IEs) may be introduced accordingly.

[0150] As described above, in another embodiment, the report message can be sent via a control channel (e.g., PUCCH). In this embodiment, separate control channel resources (e.g., transmission frequency resources and / or time resources) can be allocated for this purpose. Alternatively or additionally, a new PUCCH format can be defined, or an existing PUCCH format can be used to send the report message. In one example, the report message utilizes PUCCH scheduling request (SR) signaling combined with transmission using specific PUCCH resources to indicate LBT failure.

[0151] Thus, in some embodiments, the report message may not include any information other than an indication that the wireless device has experienced one or more LBT failures, such as where the report message comprises msg1 or other message sent on dedicated resources.

[0152] In other embodiments, the report message may include additional information, such as one or more of the following:

[0153] • An indication of the event that triggered the transmission of the report message.

[0154] An indication that the number of LBT failures has reached a predefined threshold.

[0155] Channel occupancy, e.g. based on RSSI.

[0156] LBT statistics, such as one or more of the following: number of LBT failures and / or successes, LBT failure / success rate (e.g., calculated or averaged over a specific period, or using an exponential average of consecutive periods), LBT failure rate (e.g., calculated or averaged over a specific period, or using an exponential average of consecutive periods). Any or all of these statistics may be reported per LBT type, per CAPC, per transmission direction (e.g., UL or DL), per service, per LCH, or per LCG.

[0157] One or more radio quality indicators, such as RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, SNR, SINR, etc.

[0158] Service QoS indicators, such as delay, packet loss, priority, jitter, etc.

[0159] Buffer status reporting.

[0160] Power headroom reporting.

[0161] • An indication of one or more of the following: cell, bandwidth part (BWP), carrier, channel, sub-band and PLMN on which LBT failure was experienced or suffered from LBT failure or high channel occupancy.

[0162] An indication of one or more recovery or mitigation actions that the wireless device will preferably take to recover from or mitigate an LBT failure. Mitigation actions may include one or more of: handover to another cell; cell activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; bandwidth part activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; carrier activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; channel activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; subband activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switch; RRC connection establishment; and RRC state switch. An indication (e.g., an index) of a new cell / BWP / carrier / channel / subband to which the wireless device will preferably be handed over may also be included.

[0163] In the case where the wireless device is configured with multiple serving cells, the report message may include an indication of one or more LBT failures experienced on cells other than the cell in which the report message is sent. For example, in the case where an LBT failure is detected in a serving cell (e.g., an SCell), the UE may report the occurrence of an LBT failure in another active serving cell (i.e., a primary cell or another SCell).

[0164] It will be noted that in some embodiments, reporting of LBT failures may be periodic, or otherwise not triggered by detection of one or more LBT failures. In such cases, a report message for LBT failures may be received regardless of whether the wireless device has experienced any LBT failures (in which case the report message may therefore include an indication that the wireless device has not experienced an LBT failure).

[0165] In step 406, the network node causes one or more mitigation actions to be performed to mitigate the LBT failure or high channel occupancy experienced by the wireless device. For example, the network node may send instructions to the wireless device, to another network node (e.g., in a radio access network), and / or to a core network node to perform a mitigation action. The mitigation action may correspond to a preferred mitigation action or another mitigation action indicated in the report message.

[0166] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, mitigation actions may include one or more of the following:

[0167] 1) Handover the UE to other cells with low channel occupancy / congestion / LBT failure rate, where the wireless device will have a higher probability of LBT success.

[0168] 2) Handover the wireless device to other BWPs with low channel occupancy / congestion / LBT failure rate, where the UE will have a higher probability of LBT success.

[0169] 3) Handover the wireless device from one serving carrier to another carrier with lower channel occupancy / congestion / LBT failure rate, where the UE will have a better likelihood of LBT success.

[0170] 4) Handover the wireless device from one serving channel / subband to one or more other channels / subbands with low channel occupancy / congestion / LBT failure rate, where the UE will have a higher probability of LBT success.

[0171] 5) Perform reconfiguration of specific RAN functions (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, RACH, discontinuous reception (DRX), SRS configuration, timing advance configuration, or data transmission related functions, etc.).

[0172] 6) Perform reconfiguration of RLF declaration / trigger conditions.

[0173] 7) Change the RRC state of the wireless device.

[0174] 8) Increase or decrease the scheduling rate or change the scheduling priority of the wireless device.

[0175] 9) Increase the size of the transport block scheduled in the UL grant so that the wireless device can send more data after it manages to send (ie, when LBT is successful).

[0176] 10) Switch the operating frequency band of the cell, thereby possibly switching all UEs in the cell to other cells. In other words, stop using the frequency band that is severely affected by interference or problems to access the channel.

[0177] 11) Configure the wireless device to take prepared actions in the event that the wireless device detects a persistent LBT failure

[0178] In some embodiments, one or more mitigation actions may be performed for a wireless device group (e.g., a plurality of wireless devices) to which the wireless device belongs. The wireless devices may be grouped according to one or more of the following criteria:

[0179] 1) Belongs to the same serving cell / carrier / active BWP / channel / subband / beam / beam group / sector as the reporting wireless device.

[0180] 2) Having the same UE category / capability as the wireless device.

[0181] 3) Carrying services with similar QoS requirements as the reporting wireless device. This can be enhanced, for example, by information about the UE's traffic pattern, such as that carried in the Additional QoS Flow Information IE in the Initial Context Setup Request NGAP message in NR and / or the Expected UE Behavior IE in the Initial Context Setup Request S1AP message in LTE.

[0182] 4) Have similar traffic patterns / characteristics, such as in terms of the rate at which uplink data is "generated" and how often the wireless devices attempt to transmit.

[0183] 5) The wireless device has sent LBT / CO statistics reports indicating high channel occupancy or high LBT failure rate.

[0184] 6) A wireless device that fails to transmit data with an allocated UL grant, such as failing to transmit at least a certain number of times within a given period, or failing to transmit at least a certain ratio or proportion of all UL grants of the wireless device.

[0185] Thus, mitigation actions may be performed for all wireless devices (ie, in a group) that are experiencing or may experience LBT failures.

[0186] In step 408, the network node causes an indication of the one or more LBT failures reported to the network node in step 404 to be sent to one or more other network nodes. Note that step 408 may occur simultaneously with or before step 406. The one or more other network nodes may include a radio access network node, for example, a node that performs Figure 4 The network node of the method shown is an adjacent network node. The indication may be sent via a direct interface (eg, X2 interface) between the network nodes.

[0187] In this manner, neighboring network nodes can take mitigation actions that are the same or similar to the mitigation actions performed by the network node (eg, in step 406).

[0188] Figure 5 shows that in wireless networks (such as Figure 6 The schematic block diagram of an apparatus 500 in a wireless network (shown in FIG. 1 ) is shown. The apparatus may be in a wireless device or a network node (e.g. Figure 6 The apparatus 500 is operable to perform the reference Figure 4 The example methods described herein and any other processes or methods that may be disclosed herein. It will also be understood that Figure 4 The method does not have to be performed only by the apparatus 500. At least some operations of the method may be performed by one or more other entities.

[0189] The virtual device 500 may include a processing circuit, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers and other digital hardware (which may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc.). The processing circuit may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory, a cache memory, a flash memory device, an optical storage device, etc. In various embodiments, the program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuit may be used to cause the receiving unit 502 and any other suitable units of the device 500 to perform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0190] like Figure 5 As shown, the apparatus 500 includes a receiving unit 502. The receiving unit 502 is configured to receive a report message from a wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0191] The term "unit" may have a conventional meaning in the field of electronic devices, electrical equipment and / or electronic equipment, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc. as described herein.

[0192] Although the subject matter described herein can be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are with respect to wireless networks such as Figure 6 For simplicity, Figure 6 The wireless network shown in FIG. 6 depicts only network 606, network nodes 660 and 660b, and WDs 610, 610b, and 610c. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional units suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (e.g., a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). Of the components shown, network node 660 and wireless device (WD) 610 are depicted in additional detail. A wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate wireless devices accessing and / or using services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0193] A wireless network may include and / or be connected to any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and / or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to a particular standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of a wireless network may implement: communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as IEEE 802.11 standards; and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0194] The network 606 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks that enable communication between devices.

[0195] The network node 660 and the WD 610 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connectivity in a wireless network. In various embodiments, a wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via wired or wireless connections).

[0196] As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network to enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), and NR node Bs (gNBs)). Base stations can be classified based on the amount of coverage provided by the base stations (or in other words, their transmit power levels), and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station (e.g., a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU) (sometimes also referred to as a remote radio head (RRH))). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Other examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) devices such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and / or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. However, more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to enable and / or provide access to a wireless network by a wireless device or to provide a service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

[0197] exist Figure 6 In FIG, the network node 660 includes a processing circuit 670, a device readable medium 680, an interface 690, an auxiliary device 684, a power supply 686, a power supply circuit 687, and an antenna 662. Figure 6The network node 660 shown in the example wireless network of FIG. 60 may represent a device that includes the combination of hardware components shown, but other embodiments may include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that the network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Furthermore, although the components of the network node 660 are depicted as a single box within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in reality, the network node may include multiple different physical components that make up the single illustrated component (e.g., the device readable medium 680 may include multiple separate hard drives and multiple RAM modules).

[0198] Similarly, network node 660 may include multiple physically separate components (e.g., a Node B component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In some cases where network node 660 includes multiple separate components (e.g., a BTS and a BSC component), one or more of the separate components may be shared among multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple Node Bs. In such a scenario, in some cases, each unique Node B and RNC pair may be considered a single, separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 660 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 680 for different RATs), while some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 662 may be shared by all RATs). Network node 660 may also include various sets of exemplary components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 660 (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies). These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as other components within network node 660.

[0199] The processing circuit 670 is configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as provided by the network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit 670 may include: processing information obtained by the processing circuit 670, for example, by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information; and making a determination as a result of the processing.

[0200] The processing circuitry 670 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide network node 660 functionality, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 660 components (e.g., device-readable medium 680). For example, the processing circuitry 670 may execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 680 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 670. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 670 may include a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0201] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 670 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 672 and baseband processing circuitry 674. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 672 and baseband processing circuitry 674 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (e.g., a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 672 and baseband processing circuitry 674 may be on the same chip, chipset, board, or unit.

[0202] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry 670 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 680 or a memory within processing circuitry 670. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 670 without requiring, such as hard-wired execution of instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable medium. In any of these embodiments, processing circuitry 670 can be configured to perform the described functionality regardless of whether instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 670 or other components of network node 660, but are enjoyed by network node 660 as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks generally.

[0203] Device-readable medium 680 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including, but not limited to, permanent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a flash drive, a compact disk (CD), or a digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 670. Device-readable medium 680 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 670 and utilized by network node 660. Device-readable medium 680 may be used to store any computations performed by processing circuit 670 and / or any data received via interface 690. In some embodiments, processing circuit 670 and device-readable medium 680 may be considered integrated.

[0204] Interface 690 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network node 660, network 606, and / or WD 610. As shown, interface 690 includes port / terminal 694 for sending and receiving data to and from network 606, for example, via a wired connection. Interface 690 also includes radio front-end circuitry 692, which can be coupled to antenna 662 or, in some embodiments, be part of antenna 662. Radio front-end circuitry 692 includes filter 698 and amplifier 696. Radio front-end circuitry 692 can be connected to antenna 662 and processing circuitry 670. Radio front-end circuitry 692 can be configured to condition signals transmitted between antenna 662 and processing circuitry 670. Radio front-end circuitry 692 can receive digital data to be transmitted to other network nodes or WDs via wireless connections. Radio front-end circuitry 692 can use a combination of filter 698 and / or amplifier 696 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 662. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 662 may collect radio signals, which may then be converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 692. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 670. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0205] In some alternative embodiments, the network node 660 may not include a separate radio front end circuitry 692, and instead, the processing circuitry 670 may include the radio front end circuitry and may be connected to the antenna 662 without the separate radio front end circuitry 692. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or a portion of the RF transceiver circuitry 672 may be considered part of the interface 690. In other embodiments, the interface 690 may include one or more ports or terminals 694, the radio front end circuitry 692, and the RF transceiver circuitry 672 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the interface 690 may communicate with the baseband processing circuitry 674 that is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0206] Antenna 662 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 662 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 690 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 662 may include one or more omnidirectional, sectored, or flat panel antennas operable to send / receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas can be used to send / receive radio signals in any direction, sectored antennas can be used to send / receive radio signals from devices within a specific area, and flat panel antennas can be line-of-sight antennas for sending / receiving radio signals in relatively straight lines. In some cases, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 662 may be separate from network node 660 and may be connected to network node 660 via an interface or port.

[0207] Antenna 662, interface 690 and / or processing circuit 670 can be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be received from a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 662, interface 690 and / or processing circuit 670 can be configured to perform any transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be sent to a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0208] Power circuit 687 may include or be coupled to power management circuitry and is configured to provide power to the components of network node 660 for performing the functions described herein. Power circuit 687 may receive power from power source 686. Power source 686 and / or power circuit 687 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 660 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). Power source 686 may be included in power circuit 687 and / or network node 660 or external thereto. For example, network node 660 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a cable), whereby the external power source provides power to power circuit 687. As another example, power circuit 686 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated into power circuit 687. The battery may provide backup power if the external power source fails. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0209] Alternative embodiments of network node 660 may include Figure 6 Additional components beyond those shown may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 660 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into network node 660 and to allow information to be output from network node 660. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on network node 660.

[0210] As used herein, a wireless device (WD) refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise specified, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) in this article. Wireless communication may involve the use of electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information over the air to send and / or receive wireless signals. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to send information to a network in a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from a network. Examples of WD include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptop computers, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle mounted wireless terminal devices, and the like. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and in such cases may be referred to as a D2D communication device. As another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or network node. In such a case, the WD may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a WD may be a UE that implements the 3GPP Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices include sensors, metering equipment such as power meters, industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), or personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other cases, a WD may represent a vehicle or other device capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions associated with its operation. As described above, a WD may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, the WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

[0211] As shown, wireless device 610 includes antenna 611, interface 614, processing circuitry 620, device-readable medium 630, user interface device 632, auxiliary device 634, power supply 636, and power circuitry 637. WD 610 may include multiple groups of one or more of the components shown for the different wireless technologies supported by WD 610 (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name a few). These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as other components in WD 610.

[0212] Antenna 611 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and is connected to interface 614. In some alternative embodiments, antenna 611 may be separated from WD 610 and may be connected to WD 610 via an interface or port. Antenna 611, interface 614, and / or processing circuit 620 may be configured to perform any receive or transmit operation described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data, and / or signal may be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, the radio front-end circuit and / or antenna 611 may be considered an interface.

[0213] As shown, interface 614 includes radio front-end circuitry 612 and antenna 611. Radio front-end circuitry 612 includes one or more filters 618 and amplifier 616. Radio front-end circuitry 614 is connected to antenna 611 and processing circuitry 620 and is configured to condition signals transmitted between antenna 611 and processing circuitry 620. Radio front-end circuitry 612 may be coupled to antenna 611 or may be part of antenna 611. In some embodiments, WD 610 may not include a separate radio front-end circuitry 612; instead, processing circuitry 620 may include radio front-end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 611. Similarly, in some embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 622 may be considered part of interface 614. Radio front-end circuitry 612 may receive digital data transmitted via a wireless connection to other network nodes or WDs. Radio front-end circuitry 612 may use a combination of filters 618 and / or amplifiers 616 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 611. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 611 may collect radio signals, which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 612. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 620. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0214] The processing circuitry 620 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide WD 610 functionality, either alone or in combination with other WD 610 components (e.g., device-readable medium 630). Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, the processing circuitry 620 may execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 630 or in memory within the processing circuitry 620 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0215] As shown, processing circuitry 620 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 622, baseband processing circuitry 624, and application processing circuitry 626. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 620 of WD 610 may include a system-on-chip (SoC). In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 622, baseband processing circuitry 624, and application processing circuitry 626 may be on separate chips or chipsets. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 624 and application processing circuitry 626 may be combined into a single chip or chipset, while RF transceiver circuitry 622 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 622 and baseband processing circuitry 624 may be on the same chip or chipset, while application processing circuitry 626 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 622, baseband processing circuitry 624, and application processing circuitry 626 may be combined on the same chip or chipset. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 622 may be part of interface 614. RF transceiver circuitry 622 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 620.

[0216] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by a processing circuit 620 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 630 (which may be a computer-readable storage medium in some embodiments). In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 620 without, for example, hard-wiring instructions stored on a separate or separate device-readable medium. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuit 620 can be configured to perform the described functions regardless of whether instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit 620 or other components of the WD 610, but are enjoyed by the WD 610 as a whole and / or generally by end users and wireless networks.

[0217] The processing circuit 620 may be configured to perform any determinations, calculations, or similar operations (e.g., certain acquisition operations) described herein as being performed by the WD. These operations performed by the processing circuit 620 may include: processing information obtained by the processing circuit 620, for example, by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored by the WD 610, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information; and making determinations as a result of the processing.

[0218] Device-readable medium 630 is operable to store computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions executable by processing circuitry 620. Device-readable medium 630 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions usable by processing circuitry 620. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 620 and device-readable medium 630 may be considered integrated.

[0219] The user interface device 632 can provide components that allow a human user to interact with the WD 610. This interaction can take many forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 632 can be operable to generate output to the user and allow the user to provide input to the WD 610. The type of interaction can vary depending on the type of user interface device 632 installed in the WD 610. For example, if the WD 610 is a smartphone, the interaction can be via a touch screen; if the WD 610 is a smart meter, the interaction can be through a screen that provides usage information (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 632 can include input interfaces, devices, and circuits as well as output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 632 is configured to allow information to be input into the WD 610 and is connected to the processing circuit 620 to allow the processing circuit 620 to process the input information. The user interface device 632 can include, for example, a microphone, a proximity sensor or other sensor, a key / button, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuits. User interface device 632 is also configured to allow information to be output from WD 610, and to allow processing circuitry 620 to output information from WD 610. User interface device 632 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone jack, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuitry of user interface device 632, WD 610 may communicate with an end user and / or wireless network, allowing them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0220] Auxiliary devices 634 can be operated to provide more specialized functions that may not normally be performed by a WD. This can include specialized sensors for measuring for various purposes, interfaces for other communication types such as wired communication, etc. The inclusion and types of components of auxiliary devices 634 can vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0221] In some embodiments, the power source 636 can take the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources can also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The WD 610 may also include a power circuit 637 for delivering power from the power source 636 to various components of the WD 610 that require power from the power source 636 to perform any functions described or indicated herein. In some embodiments, the power circuit 637 may include a power management circuit. The power circuit 637 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source. In this case, the WD 610 may be connected to the external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a power cord). In some embodiments, the power circuit 637 may also be operable to deliver power from the external power source to the power source 636. This can be used, for example, to charge the power source 636. The power circuit 637 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from the power source 636 to make the power suitable for the corresponding components of the WD 610 to which the power is provided.

[0222] Figure 7 One embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated equipment. Rather, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not be, or may not initially be, associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 700 may be any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including NB-IoT UEs, Machine Type Communication (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs. As Figure 7 As shown, UE 700 is an example of a WD that is configured to communicate in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As previously mentioned, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Therefore, although Figure 7 It is UE, but the components discussed in this article are also applicable to WD and vice versa.

[0223] exist Figure 7In the embodiment, UE 700 includes a processing circuit 701, which is operatively coupled to an input / output interface 705, a radio frequency (RF) interface 709, a network connection interface 711, a memory 715 (including a random access memory (RAM) 717, a read-only memory (ROM) 719, and a storage medium 721, etc.), a communication subsystem 731, a power supply 733 and / or any other components or any combination thereof. The storage medium 721 includes an operating system 723, an application 725, and data 727. In other embodiments, the storage medium 721 may include other similar types of information. Some UEs may utilize Figure 7 All components shown may be used, or only a subset of these components may be used. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0224] exist Figure 7 In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing circuit 701 can be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuit 701 can be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored as a machine-readable computer program in a memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored programs, general-purpose processors (e.g., microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) and appropriate software; or any combination thereof. For example, the processing circuit 701 can include two central processing units (CPUs). The data can be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0225] In the depicted embodiment, the input / output interface 705 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or both. The UE 700 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 705. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to or output from the UE 700. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 700 may be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface 705 to allow a user to capture information into the UE 700. The input device may include a touch-sensitive display or a presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a steering wheel, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from the user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0226] exist Figure 7 In the embodiment of the present invention, the RF interface 709 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as transmitters, receivers and antennas. The network connection interface 711 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 743a. The network 743a can include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network or any combination thereof. For example, the network 743a can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 711 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface, which are used to communicate with one or more other devices through a communication network according to one or more communication protocols (such as Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc.). The network connection interface 711 can implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for a communication network link (such as optical, electrical, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

[0227] RAM 717 can be configured to be connected to processing circuit 701 via bus 702 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as operating systems, applications, and device drivers. ROM 719 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 701. For example, ROM 719 can be configured to store unchanged low-level system code or data for basic system functions (e.g., basic input and output (I / O), startup, reception of keystrokes stored in non-volatile memory from a keyboard). Storage medium 721 can be configured to include memories such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cassettes, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 721 can be configured to include an operating system 723, applications 725 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, or another application, and data files 727. The storage medium 721 may store any one of various operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 700 .

[0228] Storage medium 721 can be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smart card memory (e.g., a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module), other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 721 can allow UE 700 to access computer-executable instructions, applications, etc. stored on a transient or non-transitory storage medium to download or upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system, can be tangibly embodied in storage medium 721, which can include device-readable media.

[0229] exist Figure 7In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing circuit 701 can be configured to communicate with the network 743b using the communication subsystem 731. The network 743a and the network 743b can be the same network or different networks. The communication subsystem 731 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 743b. For example, the communication subsystem 731 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device (e.g., another WD, UE, or a base station of a radio access network (RAN)) capable of wireless communication according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc.). Each transceiver can include a transmitter 733 and / or a receiver 735 to respectively implement transmitter or receiver functions suitable for a RAN link (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 733 and receiver 735 of each transceiver can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

[0230] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 731 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as using a global positioning system to determine location (GPS), another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 731 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 743b may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 743b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 713 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 700.

[0231] The features, benefits, and / or functionality described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 700, or may be divided among multiple components of UE 700. Furthermore, the features, benefits, and / or functionality described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 731 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Furthermore, the processing circuit 701 may be configured to communicate with any such component over the bus 702. In another example, any such component may be represented by program instructions stored in a memory that, when executed by the processing circuit 701, perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any such component may be divided between the processing circuit 701 and the communication subsystem 731. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0232] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 800 in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which may include a virtualized hardware platform, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or a component thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0233] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 800 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 830. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not radio access nodes or do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0234] These functions may be implemented by one or more applications 820 (which may alternatively be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operable to implement certain features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 820 run in a virtualized environment 800, which provides hardware 830 including processing circuitry 860 and memory 890. The memory 890 contains instructions 895 executable by the processing circuitry 860, whereby the applications 820 are operable to provide one or more features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0235] The virtualization environment 800 includes general-purpose or specialized network hardware devices 830, which include a set of one or more processors or processing circuits 860, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or specialized processors. Each hardware device may include memory 890-1, which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 895 or software executed by the processing circuits 860. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 870 (also known as network interface cards), which include physical network interfaces 880. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 890-2 in which software 895 and / or instructions executable by the processing circuits 860 are stored. The software 895 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 850 (also known as hypervisors), software for executing virtual machines 840, and software that enables them to perform the functions, features, and / or benefits associated with some embodiments described herein.

[0236] The virtual machine 840 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual network or interface, and virtual storage, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 850 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual device 820 can be implemented on one or more virtual machines 840 and can be implemented in different ways.

[0237] During operation, processing circuitry 860 executes software 895 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 850, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 850 may present to virtual machines 840 a virtual operating platform that appears to be networked hardware.

[0238] like Figure 8 As shown, hardware 830 can be a standalone network node with general or specialized components. Hardware 830 can include antenna 8225 and can implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 830 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., such as in a data center or customer premises equipment (CPE)), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed by management and orchestration (MANO) 8100, which, among other things, oversees the lifecycle management of application 820.

[0239] In some contexts, virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard, high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices that can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0240] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 840 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtual machine. Each virtual machine 840 and the portion of the hardware 830 that executes the virtual machine (hardware dedicated to the virtual machine and / or hardware shared by the virtual machine with other virtual machines 840) form a separate virtual network element (VNE).

[0241] Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more virtual machines 840 on top of the hardware networking infrastructure 830 and corresponds to Figure 8 Application 820.

[0242] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 8200, each including one or more transmitters 8220 and one or more receivers 8210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 8225. The radio unit 8200 may communicate directly with the hardware node 830 via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or base station.

[0243] In some embodiments, some signaling may be implemented using a control system 8230 , which may alternatively be used for communications between the hardware node 830 and the radio unit 8200 .

[0244] refer to Figure 9According to an embodiment, a communications system includes a telecommunications network 910, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, including an access network 911, such as a radio access network, and a core network 914. Access network 911 includes multiple base stations 912a, 912b, 912c (e.g., NBs, eNBs, gNBs) or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 913a, 913b, 913c. Each base station 912a, 912b, 912c can be connected to core network 914 via a wired or wireless connection 915. A first UE 991 located in coverage area 913c is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding base station 912c. A second UE 992 in coverage area 913a can wirelessly connect to the corresponding base station 912a. Although multiple UEs 991, 992 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where only one UE is in the coverage area or is connected to the corresponding base station 912.

[0245] Telecommunications network 910 itself is connected to a host computer 930, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-enabled server, a distributed server, or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 930 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 921 and 922 between telecommunications network 910 and host computer 930 may extend directly from core network 914 to host computer 930, or may be via an optional intermediary network 920. Intermediary network 920 may be one of a public, private, or managed network, or a combination of more than one of these; intermediary network 920, if present, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediary network 920 may include two or more subnetworks (not shown).

[0246] Overall, Figure 9The communication system enables connectivity between connected UEs 991, 992 and a host computer 930. This connectivity can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 950. The host computer 930 and the connected UEs 991, 992 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 950, using the access network 911, the core network 914, any intermediate networks 920, and possibly other infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 950 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 950 passes are unaware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 912 may not be informed or need not be informed of the past routing of incoming downlink communications with data originating from the host computer 930 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 991. Similarly, the base station 912 does not need to be aware of the future routing of outgoing uplink communications from the UE 991 to the host computer 930.

[0247] Now refer to Figure 10 10. The example implementation of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the previous paragraphs according to the embodiment is described below. In the communication system 1000, the host computer 1010 includes hardware 1015, which includes a communication interface 1016 configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with different communication devices of the communication system 1000. The host computer 1010 also includes processing circuitry 1018, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 1018 may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these items (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 1010 also includes software 1011, which is stored in the host computer 1010 or accessible by the host computer 1010 and executable by the processing circuitry 1018. The software 1011 includes a host application 1012. The host application 1012 is operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1030 connected via an OTT connection 1050 terminating at the UE 1030 and the host computer 1010. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 1012 may provide user data sent using the OTT connection 1050.

[0248] The communication system 1000 also includes a base station 1020 provided in the telecommunication system, and the base station 1020 includes hardware 1025 that enables it to communicate with the host computer 1010 and the UE 1030. The hardware 1025 may include a communication interface 1026 for establishing and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with different communication devices of the communication system 1000, and for establishing and maintaining a connection with the network located in the coverage area ( Figure 10The communication interface 1026 may be configured to facilitate a connection 1060 with the host computer 1010. The connection 1060 may be direct, or the connection 1060 may be through a core network (e.g., a telecommunications system) of the telecommunications system. Figure 10 (not shown) and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 1025 of the base station 1020 also includes processing circuitry 1028, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or a combination thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 1020 also has software 1021 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0249] The communication system 1000 also includes the previously mentioned UE 1030. The hardware 1035 of the UE 1030 may include a radio interface 1037 configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 1070 with a base station serving the coverage area in which the UE 1030 is currently located. The hardware 1035 of the UE 1030 also includes processing circuitry 1038, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or a combination thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 1030 also includes software 1031 stored in or accessible by the UE 1030 and executable by the processing circuitry 1038. The software 1031 includes a client application 1032. The client application 1032 is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 1030 with the support of the host computer 1010. In the host computer 1010, the executing host application 1012 can communicate with the executing client application 1032 via an OTT connection 1050 that terminates at the UE 1030 and the host computer 1010. In providing a service to a user, the client application 1032 can receive request data from the host application 1012 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1050 can transmit both the request data and the user data. The client application 1032 can interact with the user to generate user data provided by the user.

[0250] Notice, Figure 10 The host computer 1010, base station 1020 and UE 1030 shown can be respectively Figure 9 The host computer 930, one of the base stations 912a, 912b, 912c, and one of the UEs 991, 992 are similar or identical. That is, the internal working principles of these entities can be as follows Figure 10 shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Figure 9 The surrounding network topology.

[0251] exist Figure 10 In FIG, an OTT connection 1050 has been abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between a host computer 1010 and a UE 1030 via a base station 1020, without explicitly referencing any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages through these devices. The network infrastructure can determine the routing, and the network infrastructure can be configured to hide the routing from the UE 1030 or from the service provider operating the host computer 1010, or both. While the OTT connection 1050 is active, the network infrastructure can further make decisions based on which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0252] The wireless connection 1070 between the UE 1030 and the base station 1020 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments can improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1030 using the OTT connection 1050 (where the wireless connection 1070 forms the final segment). More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve latency and data rates (e.g., by enabling the network to take one or more mitigation actions and thereby reduce the likelihood of other LBT failures), and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user latency and better responsiveness.

[0253] A measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors that one or more embodiments improve upon. In response to changes in measurement results, there may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1050 between the host computer 1010 and the UE 1030. The measurement process and / or network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1050 may be implemented in the software 1011 and hardware 1015 of the host computer 1010, or in the software 1031 and hardware 1035 of the UE 1030, or in both. In an embodiment, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication device through which the OTT connection 1050 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by providing values of the monitored quantities exemplified above or other physical quantities from which the software 1011, 1031 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1050 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, and the like. The reconfiguration need not affect the base station 1020 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 1020. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates host computer 1010 to measure throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurements may be achieved because software 1011 and 1031 causes messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, to be sent using OTT connection 1050 during its monitoring of propagation time, errors, etc.

[0254] Figure 11 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 9 and Figure 10 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section are included. Figure 11 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings of FIG. In step 1110, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 1111 of step 1110 (which may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1120, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 1130 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 1140 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0255] Figure 12 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 9 and Figure 10 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section are included. Figure 12 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings of the present invention. In step 1210 of the method, a host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1220, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, this transmission may be through a base station. In step 1230 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0256] Figure 13 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 9 and Figure 10 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section are included. Figure 13 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings. In step 1310 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1320, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1321 (which may be optional) of step 1320, the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1311 (which may be optional) of step 1310, the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data is provided, the UE initiates transmission of the user data to the host computer in sub-step 1330 (which may be optional). In step 1340 of the method, the host computer receives user data sent from the UE in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0257] Figure 14 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be a reference Figure 9 and Figure 10 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only the host computers, base stations and UEs described in this section are included. Figure 14 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings. In step 1410 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1420 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1430 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0258] For the avoidance of doubt, the following numbered statements describe embodiments of the present disclosure:

[0259] 1. A method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:

[0260] - detect one or more Listen Before Talk (LBT) failures, and

[0261] - Sending a report message to a network node, the report message including an indication of one or more LBT failures.

[0262] 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein detecting one or more LBT failures comprises detecting persistent LBT failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0263] 3. The method of embodiment 2, wherein persistent LBT failure is determined (by the wireless device) by detecting a maximum number of LBT failures.

[0264] 4. The method of embodiment 2, wherein persistent LBT failure is determined (by the wireless device) by detecting a maximum number of LBT failures within a defined time window or period.

[0265] 5. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the one or more indications of LBT failures are related to a specific portion of a bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device.

[0266] 6. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the report message includes respective indications of one or more LBT failures experienced by the wireless device for multiple portions of a bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device.

[0267] 7. A method according to any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the indication of one or more LBT failures relates to one or more of: a specific cell; a specific carrier; a specific channel; a specific frequency sub-band; a specific public land mobile network PLMN; a specific type of LBT; a specific channel access priority category CAPC; a specific transmission direction, such as UL or DL; a specific service accessed by the wireless device; a specific logical channel; and a specific logical channel group.

[0268] 8. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the one or more indications of LBT failure relate to a specific cell, and wherein the specific cell is not served by the network node.

[0269] 9. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the transmission of the report message is triggered periodically.

[0270] 10. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein transmission of the report message is triggered upon detection of an event by the wireless device.

[0271] 11. The method of embodiment 10, wherein the event is one or more of: a threshold number of LBT failures occurring within a time period; and a channel occupancy exceeding a threshold.

[0272] 12. The method of embodiment 10 or 11, wherein the report message further includes an indication of an event that triggered the transmission of the report message.

[0273] 13. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the report message is sent using resources dedicated to reporting LBT failures.

[0274] 14. The method of embodiment 13, wherein the dedicated resources include one or more of the following: frequency resources; time resources; random access preamble resources; PUCCH format.

[0275] 15. The method of embodiment 13 or 14, wherein the dedicated resources include dedicated physical random access channel (PRACH) resources.

[0276] 16. The method of any one of embodiments 13 to 15, wherein the report message is transmitted via a random access preamble transmission or a msg1 message of a random access procedure.

[0277] 17. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the report message is included in a msgA message or a msg3 message of a random access procedure.

[0278] 18. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 14, wherein the report message is sent on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0279] 19. The method according to any one of the preceding embodiments, wherein the report message includes a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or a MAC subheader.

[0280] 20. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the report message comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

[0281] 21. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the report message is sent with an identifier of the wireless device.

[0282] 22. The method of embodiment 21, wherein the identifier comprises a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI).

[0283] 23. A method according to any one of the preceding embodiments, wherein the report message further includes an indication of LBT statistics, the LBT statistics including one or more of the following: the number of LBT failures; the number of LBT successes; the LBT failure / success rate; the LBT failure rate.

[0284] 24. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the report message further includes an indication of channel occupancy.

[0285] 25. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the report message further includes an indication of a mitigation action to be taken by the network node.

[0286] 26. A method according to embodiment 25, wherein the mitigation action includes one or more of the following: switching to another cell; cell activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; bandwidth part activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; carrier activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; channel activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; subband activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; RRC connection establishment; and RRC state switching.

[0287] 27. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments further includes: in response to detecting one or more LBT failures, performing one or more of the following: switching to a bandwidth portion different from the bandwidth portion that has experienced the LBT failure; and initiating RRC connection reconstruction of a cell different from the cell that has experienced the LBT failure.

[0288] 28. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising: receiving a configuration message from a network node, the configuration message including a configuration for reporting LBT failure by the wireless device.

[0289] 29. The method according to any one of the preceding embodiments, further comprising:

[0290] - provide user data; and

[0291] - Forwarding user data to a host computer via transmission to a base station.

[0292] 30. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:

[0293] - Receiving a report message from a wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk, LBT, failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0294] 31. The method of embodiment 30, wherein the one or more indications of LBT failures include an indication of persistent LBT failures experienced by the wireless device.

[0295] 32. The method of embodiment 31, wherein the persistent LBT failure is determined by the wireless device detecting a maximum number of LBT failures.

[0296] 33. The method of embodiment 32, wherein the persistent LBT failures in the maximum number of LBT failures are detected within a defined time window of each other.

[0297] 34. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 33, wherein the one or more indications of LBT failures are related to a specific portion of the bandwidth of the carrier configured for the wireless device.

[0298] 35. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 34, wherein the report message includes respective indications of one or more LBT failures experienced by the wireless device for multiple portions of a bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device.

[0299] 36. A method according to any one of embodiments 30 to 35, wherein the indication of one or more LBT failures relates to one or more of the following: a specific cell; a specific carrier; a specific channel; a specific frequency sub-band; a specific public land mobile network PLMN; a specific type of LBT; a specific channel access priority level CAPC; a specific transmission direction, such as UL or DL; a specific service accessed by the wireless device; a specific logical channel; and a specific logical channel group.

[0300] 37. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 36, wherein the one or more indications of LBT failure relate to a specific cell, and wherein the specific cell is not served by the base station.

[0301] 38. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 37, wherein the transmission of the report message is triggered periodically.

[0302] 39. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 38, wherein the transmission of the report message is triggered when the wireless device detects an event.

[0303] 40. The method of embodiment 39, wherein the event is one or more of: a threshold number of LBT failures occurring within a time period; and a channel occupancy exceeding a threshold.

[0304] 41. The method of embodiment 39 or 40, wherein the report message further includes an indication of an event that triggered the transmission of the report message.

[0305] 42. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 41, wherein the report message is received on a resource dedicated to reporting LBT failures.

[0306] 43. The method of embodiment 42, wherein the dedicated resources include one or more of: frequency resources; time resources; random access preamble resources; PUCCH format.

[0307] 44. The method of embodiment 42 or 43, wherein the dedicated resources include dedicated physical random access channel (PRACH) resources.

[0308] 45. The method of any one of embodiments 42 to 44, wherein the report message is transmitted via a random access preamble transmission or a msg1 message of a random access procedure.

[0309] 46. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 41, wherein the report message is included in a msgA message or a msg3 message of a random access procedure.

[0310] 47. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 43, wherein the report message is sent on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0311] 48. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 47, wherein the report message includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or a MAC subheader.

[0312] 49. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 48, wherein the report message comprises a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0313] 50. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 49, wherein the report message is received with an identifier of the wireless device.

[0314] 51. The method of embodiment 50, wherein the identifier comprises a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI).

[0315] 52. A method according to any one of embodiments 30 to 51, wherein the report message also includes an indication of LBT statistics, and the LBT statistics include one or more of the following: the number of LBT failures; the number of LBT successes; the LBT failure / success rate; the LBT failure rate.

[0316] 53. A method according to any one of embodiments 30 to 52, wherein the report message also includes an indication of channel occupancy.

[0317] 54. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 53, wherein the report message further includes an indication of a mitigation action to be initiated by the base station.

[0318] 55. A method according to embodiment 54, wherein the mitigation action includes one or more of the following: switching to another cell; cell activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; bandwidth part activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; carrier activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; channel activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; subband activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; RRC connection establishment; and RRC state switching.

[0319] 56. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 55, further comprising sending a configuration message to the wireless device, the configuration message including a configuration for the wireless device to report an LBT failure.

[0320] 57. The method of any one of embodiments 30 to 56, further comprising sending an indication of one or more LBT failures detected by the wireless device to one or more network nodes.

[0321] 58. The method according to any one of embodiments 30 to 57 further includes: initiating a mitigation action in response to receiving the report message.

[0322] 59. A method according to embodiment 58, wherein the mitigation action includes one or more of the following: switching the wireless device to one or more other cells; switching the wireless device to one or more other BWPs; switching the wireless device from one serving carrier to one or more other carriers; switching the wireless device from one serving channel or subband to one or more other channels or subbands; reconfiguring one or more RAN functions, such as PUCCH configuration, PDCCH configuration, RACH configuration, DRX configuration, SRS configuration, timing advance configuration or data transmission related functions; reconfiguring radio link failure declaration or triggering conditions; changing the RRC state of the wireless device; changing the scheduling rate or scheduling priority of the wireless device; increasing the transport block size scheduled for the wireless device in one or more UL grants; and switching the operating frequency band of the cell.

[0323] 60. The method of embodiment 58 or 59, wherein the mitigation action is initiated for a wireless device group including the wireless device.

[0324] 61. A method according to embodiment 60, wherein the wireless device group: belongs to the same service cell; utilizes the same carrier; utilizes the same active bandwidth portion; utilizes the same channel; utilizes the same subband; utilizes the same beam; utilizes the same group of beams; or utilizes the same sector.

[0325] 62. The method of embodiment 60 or 61, wherein the group of wireless devices: have the same UE category; or have the same UE capabilities.

[0326] 63. The method of any one of embodiments 60 to 62, wherein the group of wireless devices: access the same or similar services (eg, have the same or similar quality of service requirements).

[0327] 64. The method of any one of embodiments 60 to 63, wherein the group of wireless devices: have similar traffic patterns or characteristics.

[0328] 65. The method of any one of embodiments 60 to 64, wherein the wireless device group: has sent LBT / CO statistics reports indicating high channel occupancy or high LBT failure rate.

[0329] 66. The method of any one of embodiments 60 to 65, wherein the group of wireless devices: fails to transmit data on one or more allocated UL grants.

[0330] 67. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising:

[0331] - obtain user data; and

[0332] -Forward user data to a host computer or wireless device.

[0333] 68. A wireless device, comprising:

[0334] - processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and

[0335] - A power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0336] 69. A base station, comprising:

[0337] - a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments;

[0338] - A power supply circuit configured to supply power to the base station.

[0339] 70. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising:

[0340] - an antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless signals;

[0341] - a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and the processing circuit and configured to condition signals transmitted between the antenna and the processing circuit;

[0342] - a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments;

[0343] - an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuitry;

[0344] - an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information that has been processed by the processing circuit from the UE; and

[0345] - A battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0346] 71. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0347] - processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

[0348] - a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),

[0349] - wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the base station being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0350] 72. The communication system according to the previous embodiment further includes: a base station.

[0351] 73. The communication system according to the first two embodiments further includes: a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0352] 74. The communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein:

[0353] - the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing user data; and

[0354] - The UE comprises a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with a host application.

[0355] 75. A method implemented in a communication system comprising a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0356] - at the host computer, providing user data; and

[0357] - Initiating, at a host computer, a transmission carrying user data to the UE via a cellular network including a base station, wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0358] 76. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: sending user data at the base station.

[0359] 77. The method of the two preceding embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising: executing, at the UE, a client application associated with the host application.

[0360] 78. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and a processing circuit configured to perform any one of the first three embodiments.

[0361] 79. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0362] - processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

[0363] - a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),

[0364] - wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the components of the UE are configured to perform any steps of any one of the embodiments of Group A.

[0365] 80. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises: a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0366] 81. The communication system according to the two preceding embodiments, wherein:

[0367] - the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing user data; and

[0368] - The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0369] 82. A method implemented in a communication system comprising a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0370] - at the host computer, providing user data; and

[0371] - At a host computer, initiating a transmission carrying user data to a UE via a cellular network including a base station, wherein the UE performs any steps of any one of Group A embodiments.

[0372] 83. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: receiving user data from the base station at the UE.

[0373] 84. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0374] - a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station,

[0375] - wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to perform any steps of any one of the embodiments of Group A.

[0376] 85. The communication system according to the previous embodiment further includes: UE.

[0377] 86. The communication system according to the first two embodiments further includes: a base station, wherein the base station includes a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward user data carried by transmissions from the UE to the base station to a host computer.

[0378] 87. The communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein:

[0379] - the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application; and

[0380] - The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data.

[0381] 88. The communication system according to the first four embodiments, wherein:

[0382] - the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application to provide the requested data; and

[0383] - The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to provide user data in response to the request data.

[0384] 89. A method implemented in a communication system comprising a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0385] - At a host computer, receiving user data sent from a UE to a base station, wherein the UE performs any steps of any one of the embodiments of Group A.

[0386] 90. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: providing user data to the base station at the UE.

[0387] 91. The method according to the previous two embodiments, further comprising:

[0388] - At the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing user data to be sent; and

[0389] - At the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

[0390] 92. The method according to the first three embodiments, further comprising:

[0391] - At the UE, executing the client application; and

[0392] - receiving, at the UE, input data to the client application, the input data being provided at a host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application,

[0393] - wherein the user data to be sent is provided by the client application in response to input data.

[0394] 93. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the base station being configured to perform any steps of any one of the embodiments of Group B.

[0395] 94. The communication system according to the previous embodiment further includes: a base station.

[0396] 95. The communication system according to the first two embodiments further includes: a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0397] 96. The communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein:

[0398] - the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application;

[0399] - The UE is configured to execute a client application in association with a host application, thereby providing user data to be received by the host computer.

[0400] 97. A method implemented in a communication system comprising a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0401] - receiving, at a host computer, from a base station user data originating from a transmission that the base station has received from a UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of Group A embodiments.

[0402] 98. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: receiving user data from the UE at the base station.

[0403] 99. The method of the two preceding embodiments, further comprising: at the base station, initiating transmission of the received user data to a host computer.

[0404] appendix

[0405] __________________________________________________________

[0406] Introduction

[0407] For operation in unlicensed spectrum, LBT can be applied before any transmission. Due to LBT failure in DL transmission, the UE may miss the reception of the RLM RS. Due to LBT failure in UL transmission, the UE may not be able to perform uplink transmission in a timely manner. For either reason, additional delay may be introduced to enable the UE to detect RLF in a timely manner. Therefore, the impact of LBT failure may need to be considered and necessary enhancements may be made to the existing RLM / RLF procedures used for NR-U.

[0408] At the RAN2 107th meeting, RAN2 reached the following agreement on UL LBT failure handling.

[0409] => The L2 LBT failure mechanism takes into account any LBT failure regardless of the UL transmission type.

[0410] =>UL LBT failure mechanism will have the same recovery mechanism for all failures, regardless of UL transmission type

[0411] => UL LBT failure detection based on BWP

[0412] =>UE shall report the occurrence of persistent UL LBT failure on PSCell and SCell.

[0413] Assume that BF fails to reuse SCell report

[0414] Baseline mechanism, further enhancements are not excluded:

[0415] => The "Threshold" of the maximum number of LBT failures for triggering a "Continuous" LBT failure event will be used.

[0416] => Both a timer and a counter are introduced. The counter is reset when the timer expires and is incremented when a ULLBT failure occurs.

[0417] =>When UL LBT failure occurs, the timer is started / restarted.

[0418] From the above protocols, it is observed that a BFD-like mechanism is used as a baseline for detecting persistent UL LBT failures. One remaining issue in detecting UL LBT failures is to define the detailed detection process.

[0419] RAN2 also agreed to maintain UL LBT failure handling according to the BWP. Detection and recovery procedures will also be performed for SCells. These protocols are related to recovery actions. RAN2 still needs to define the details.

[0420] In this paper, we discuss the remaining issues mentioned above by introducing the above RAN2 protocol. The discussion focuses on UL transmission and DL transmission.

[0421] __________________________________________________________

[0422] discuss

[0423] UL LBT failure detection

[0424] At RAN2's 107th meeting, a BFD-like mechanism was agreed upon as a baseline for detecting UL LBT failures. The BFD process is defined in NR Rel-15. This will reduce RAN2's workload in designing a UL LBT failure detection mechanism based on BFD. As other companies have indicated, there may be other issues that could lead to further enhancements. These are reserved for study in future releases.

[0425] Therefore, we make the following recommendations.

[0426] Recommendation 1 An agreed baseline mechanism for how to detect UL LBT failure is sufficient in Rel-16. Further enhancements may be reserved for future releases.

[0427] Recovery actions when UL LBT failure is detected

[0428] RAN2 has agreed to maintain this procedure according to BWP. A UE may be configured with multiple BWPs and ULLBT failure handling should be handled according to BWP, as different BWPs may have different channel occupancy status.

[0429] Observation 1: UL LBT failure handling is maintained according to BWP.

[0430] The UE shall maintain timers and counters for each BWP. Whenever the UE switches to a different BWP, the UE shall use the timers and counters in the new active BWP for UL LBT failure detection. At the same time, it is reasonable to reset the timers and counters in the deactivated BWP.

[0431] Recommendation 2 After BWP switching, the counters and timers used for LBT failure handling in the deactivated BWP should be reset.

[0432] If the active BWP includes multiple LBT subbands, it is sufficient for the UE to maintain a common counter across LBT subbands with the same BWP. In other words, a UL LBT problem is declared only if the number of LBT failures in all LBT subbands has reached a predefined count.

[0433] Recommendation 3 The UE maintains a common counter for all LBT subbands within a BWP.

[0434] If the UE experiences LBT issues in its currently active BWP, it is beneficial for the UE to switch to another BWP before triggering RLF. As an option, the UE can initiate RA on an inactive BWP. If no PRACH opportunity is configured on any inactive BWP, the UE can switch to the initial BWP to start the RACH procedure.

[0435] Upon receiving an RA, the gNB can decide whether the UE needs to switch to another BWP. The gNB can reply with a DCI or RRC reconfiguration indicating a new BWP, which may be different from the BWP in which the UE sent the RA. After switching to the new active BWP, the UE can reset the counter used for LBT problem detection.

[0436] Recommendation 4 Upon detection of persistent UL LBT failure in an active BWP, before the triggering of an RLF event, the UE may initiate RA on an inactive BWP that is configured with a PRACH opportunity. If no PRACH opportunity is configured on any inactive non-initial BWP, the UE may switch to the initial BWP to start the RACH procedure.

[0437] If the UE has detected LBT problems for all configured BWPs for which RA is configured, the UE may declare RLF for the cell and trigger RRC connection re-establishment.

[0438] Recommendation 5 If the UE has detected LBT issues for all configured BWPs for which RA is configured, the UE declares RLF for the cell.

[0439] If an RLF event is triggered, the UE will follow the existing RRC connection reestablishment procedure to recover from the failure. In LTE, after recovery, the UE can send an RLF report to report the occurrence of RLF. We believe that this functionality will be the same for NR. In the RLF report, the UE includes a failure cause indicating that the RLF was triggered due to a persistent UL LBT failure. Therefore, we make the following recommendations.

[0440] Recommendation 6: When reestablishing after an RLF event, as in LTE, the UE sends an RLF report. The UE may include in the report a failure cause indicating that the RLF was triggered due to a persistent UL LBT failure.

[0441] For a UE configured with an SCell, if the UE has detected a persistent UL LBT failure in one carrier, the UE may notify the gNB of the occurrence of the LBT failure so that the gNB can take appropriate recovery actions, such as deactivating or deconfiguring the cell in which the UL LBT failure was detected. The signaling may be sent on a different cell (e.g., PCell or another SCell). How this signaling is sent is for further study.

[0442] Recommendation 7: For a UE configured with an SCell, the UE indicates the occurrence of a persistent UL LBT failure for the SCell to the gNB on a different cell (e.g., PCell or another SCell). How this signaling is done is for further study.

[0443] __________________________________________________________

[0444] Text suggestions

[0445] Text recommendations in the MAC specification

[0446] In the Running MAC CR, Section 5.X describes the LBT operation. This section can be best divided into two parts: "5.X1 Overview", which describes the LBT process; and "5.X.2 LBT Failure Detection and Recovery Procedure".

[0447] 5.X LBT Operation

[0448] 5.X.1 Overview

[0449] The lower layers can perform an LBT procedure, according to which transmission is not performed if the channel is identified as being occupied. When the lower layers perform an LBT procedure before transmission, an LBT success or LBT failure indication is sent to the MAC entity. If an LBT failure indication is received from the lower layers while performing the LBT procedure, the actions related to "sent" and "transmission performed" are not performed.

[0450] Editor's Note: This introduces the LBT process and implements the last part of the protocol: "As previously agreed, if the preamble is not sent due to an LBT failure, the POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER is not incremented. For this purpose, an LBT failure indication from the PHY or equivalent is used (as used for other LBT result dependencies)."

[0451] Editor's Note: Below we describe handling persistent LBT failures. This provides a baseline mechanism for persistent LBT failure detection, and further enhancements are possible. Details of recovery are for further study.

[0452] 5.X.2 LBT Failure Detection and Recovery Process

[0453] The MAC entity can be configured with a persistent LBT failure recovery procedure by RRC. Persistent LBT failure is detected by counting LBT failure indications for all UL transmissions from lower layers to the MAC entity. Persistent LBT failure detection is maintained based on the BWP. If the UE has detected a persistent LBT failure in its active BWP, the UE switches to another BWP by initiating a random access procedure on that BWP. If the UE has detected a persistent LBT failure on all configured dedicated BWPs that are configured with PRACH resources, a radio link failure event is triggered.

[0454] RRC configures the following parameters in lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig in BWP-UplinkDedicated:

[0455] -lbt-FailureInstanceMaxCount, which is used for continuous LBT failure detection;

[0456] -lbt-FailureDetectionTimer, which is used for continuous LBT failure detection;

[0457] The following UE variables are used in the ongoing LBT failure detection process:

[0458] - LBT_COUNTER: Counter for LBT failure indication, which is initially set to 0.

[0459] The MAC entity will:

[0460] 1> If an LBT failure indication has been received from the lower layer:

[0461] 2>Start or restart lbt-FailureDetectionTimer;

[0462] 2>Increment LBT_COUNTER by 1;

[0463] 2>If LBT_COUNTER>=lbt-FailureInstanceMaxCount:

[0464] 3> If the UE has detected LBT failure in all BWPs configured with PRACH opportunities

[0465] 4>UE indicates to higher layers that UL LBT failure continues

[0466] Editor's Note: How this will be reflected in the RRC specification is for further study.

[0467] 3> Otherwise

[0468] 4> Initiate a random access procedure in another BWP configured with a PRACH opportunity (as specified in clause 5.1.1)

[0469] Editor's Note: How to choose another BWP is for further study

[0470] 1> If lbt-FailureDetectionTimer expires; or

[0471] 1> If lbt-FailureDetectionTimer or lbt-FailureInstanceMaxCount is reconfigured by higher layers:

[0472] 2>Set LBT_COUNTER to 0.

[0473] Recommendation 8: Adopt the proposed changes in 5.X for MACs running CR.

[0474] 5.15 Bandwidth Part (BWP) Operation

[0475] In addition to clause 12 of TS 38.213 [6], this clause specifies requirements for BWP operations.

[0476] A serving cell may be configured with one or more BWPs, and the maximum number of BWPs per serving cell is specified in TS 38.213 [6].

[0477] BWP switching of the serving cell is used to activate an inactive BWP and deactivate an active BWP at the same time. BWP switching is controlled by the PDCCH indicating a downlink allocation or uplink grant, by the bwp-InactivityTimer, by RRC signaling, or by the MAC entity itself when initiating a random access procedure.

[0478] When a UE triggers BWP switching after detecting a persistent LBT failure in its active BWP, the UE may select another inactive BWP with configured PRACH resources to initiate a random access procedure. If there is no other inactive dedicated BWP configured with PRACH resources, the UE switches the active UL BWP to the BWP indicated by initialUplinkBWP and initiates a random access procedure.

[0479] When the firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and / or firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id of the SpCell is RRC (re)configured or the SCell is activated, the DL BWP and / or UL BWP indicated by the firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and / or firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id, respectively (as specified in TS 38.331 [5]) are active in the absence of a PDCCH indicating a downlink allocation or uplink grant. The active BWP of the serving cell is indicated by RRC or PDCCH (as specified in TS 38.213 [6]). For unpaired spectrum, the DL BWP is paired with the ULBWP, and BWP switching is common to both UL and DL.

[0480] For each activated serving cell configured with a BWP, the MAC entity shall:

[0481] 1> If BWP is activated:

[0482] 2> Send on UL-SCH on BWP;

[0483] 2> If PRACH opportunity is configured, it is sent on RACH on BWP;

[0484] 2> Monitor PDCCH on BWP;

[0485] 2> If configured, PUCCH is sent on BWP;

[0486] 2> Report the CSI of BWP;

[0487] 2> If configured, send SRS on BWP;

[0488] 2>Receive DL-SCH on BWP;

[0489] 2> (Re)initialize any suspended configured uplink grants of configured grant type 1 on the active BWP according to the stored configuration (if any) and start in symbol according to the rules in clause 5.8.2.

[0490] 2> If persistent LBT failure recovery is configured:

[0491] 3> Stop lbtFailureDetectionTimer if it is running;

[0492] 3> Set LBT_COUNTER to 0;

[0493] 3>Monitor for persistent LBT failures.

[0494] 1> If BWP is deactivated:

[0495] 2> Not transmit on UL-SCH on BWP;

[0496] 2> Not sending on RACH on BWP;

[0497] 2>Do not monitor PDCCH on BWP;

[0498] 2> Do not send PUCCH on BWP;

[0499] 2> CSI of BWP is not reported;

[0500] 2> Do not send SRS on BWP;

[0501] 2> Do not receive DL-SCH on BWP;

[0502] 2> Clear any configured downlink allocations and configured uplink grants of configuration grant type 2 on the BWP;

[0503] 2>Suspend any configured uplink grants of configuration grant type 1 on an inactive BWP.

[0504] 2>Do not monitor for persistent LBT failures.

[0505] <Unmodified parts omitted>

[0506] Recommendation 9: Adopt the specification changes proposed in 5.15 when resetting timers and counters in a MAC running CR.

[0507] The MAC reset needs to be updated by resetting the LBT_COUNTER:

[0508] 5.12 MAC Reset

[0509] If a reset of the MAC entity is requested by higher layers, the MAC entity shall:

[0510] 1> Initialize Bj of each logical channel to zero;

[0511] 1> Stop (if running) all timers;

[0512] 1> Treat all timeAlignmentTimers as expired and perform the corresponding actions in clause 5.2;

[0513] 1> Set the NDI of all uplink HARQ processes to 0;

[0514] 1> Stop (if any) the ongoing RACH process;

[0515] 1> discard the contention-free random access resources sent by explicit signaling (if any);

[0516] 1>Refresh Msg3 buffer;

[0517] 1>Cancel (if any) the triggered scheduling request process;

[0518] 1>Cancel (if any) the triggered buffer status report process;

[0519] 1> Cancel (if any) the triggered power headroom reporting process;

[0520] 1>Flush the soft buffers of all DL HARQ processes;

[0521] 1> For each DL HARQ process, the next received TB transmission is considered the first transmission;

[0522] 1> Release (if any) temporary C-RNTI;

[0523] 1> Reset BFI_COUNTER.

[0524] 1>Reset LBT_COUNTER.

[0525] Recommendation 10: Adopt the specification changes recommended in 5.12 into MACs running CR.

[0526] Text proposals in the Stage 2 specification

[0527] Within 9.2 NR

[0528] <Unmodified parts omitted>

[0529] 9.2.X UL LBT Failure Detection and Recovery

[0530] In RRC_CONNECTED, the UE monitors UL LBT failures in the active BWP for all UL transmissions (including any transmissions carried on RACH, SRS, PUCCH and PUSCH). If the active BWP includes multiple LBT subbands, the UE maintains a common counter across the LBT subbands within the same BWP. The UE may be configured with multiple BWPs and UL LBT failure handling should be handled according to the BWP.

[0531] The UE declares a UL LBT problem when the following criteria are met:

[0532] -The maximum number of sustained UL LBT failures has been reached while the timer is running

[0533] If a UE experiences UL LBT issues in its currently active BWP, the UE initiates a random access procedure on an inactive BWP. If no PRACH opportunities are configured on any inactive BWP, the UE may switch to the initial BWP to initiate the RACH procedure. Upon receiving the random access procedure, the gNB may decide whether the UE needs to switch to another BWP. The gNB may reply with a DCI or RRC reconfiguration indicating the new BWP, which may be different from the BWP in which the UE sent the random access procedure.

[0534] If the UE has detected LBT issues for all configured BWPs, the UE may declare RLF.

[0535] For a UE configured with carrier aggregation, if the UE has detected an UL LBT problem in one carrier, the UE may inform the gNB and the gNB may take appropriate action, such as deactivating or deconfiguring the cell in which the UL LBT problem was detected.

[0536] For a UE configured with dual connectivity, if the UE has continuously experienced a maximum number of UL LBT failures in the SCG, the UE reports the SCG LBT problem to the MCG.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising: - sending (206) a report message to a network node, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device; The report message also includes an indication of a mitigation action that the wireless device will preferably take to mitigate the LBT failure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The report message includes a medium access control MAC control element CE or a MAC subheader.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The report message includes a MAC CE, and the MAC CE does not include any payload bits.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The report message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The report message is sent together with an identifier of the wireless device.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The identifier comprises a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier C-RNTI.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein The indication of one or more LBT failures comprises an indication of persistent LBT failures experienced by the wireless device, and persistent LBT failures are preferably determined by a maximum number of LBT failures detected by the wireless device.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The indication of one or more LBT failures is related to a particular portion of a bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein The report message includes respective indications of one or more LBT failures experienced by the wireless device for portions of a bandwidth of a carrier configured for the wireless device.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein The indication of one or more LBT failures relates to one or more of the following: a specific cell; a specific carrier; a specific channel; Specific frequency sub-band; specific public land mobile network PLMN; specific type of LBT; specific channel access priority level CAPC; A specific transmission direction, such as UL or DL; a specific service accessed by the wireless device; a specific logical channel; and a specific logical channel group.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein The indication of one or more LBT failures relates to a specific cell, and wherein the specific cell is not served by the network node.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein The transmission of the report message is triggered periodically.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein The transmission of the report message is triggered when the wireless device detects an event.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The report message also includes an indication of the event that triggered the transmission of the report message.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein The report message may also include one or more of the following: an indication of channel occupancy; and An indication of LBT statistics, the indication of LBT statistics comprising one or more of: the number of LBT failures; the number of LBT successes; the ratio between the number of LBT failures and the number of LBT successes; the LBT failure rate.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: In response to detecting the one or more LBT failures, performing one or more of: switching to a bandwidth portion different from the bandwidth portion that has experienced the LBT failure; and initiating RRC connection reestablishment of a cell different from the cell that has experienced the LBT failure.

17. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising: - receiving (404) a report message from a wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device; - in response to receiving the report message, initiating (406) a mitigation action; wherein the report message further includes an indication of a mitigation action that the wireless device will preferably take to mitigate the LBT failure; The mitigation action is initiated for a wireless device group including the wireless device, and the wireless device group: belongs to the same serving cell; utilizes the same carrier; utilizes the same active bandwidth portion; utilizes the same channel; utilizes the same subband; utilizes the same beam; utilizes the same set of beams; utilizes the same sector; has the same UE category; has the same UE capabilities; accesses the same or similar services; has similar business patterns or characteristics; has sent a report message indicating high channel occupancy or high LBT failure rate; or failed to send data on one or more allocated UL grants.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The report message includes a medium access control MAC control element CE or a MAC subheader.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The report message includes a MAC CE, and the MAC CE does not include any payload bits.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein The report message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein The report message is received along with an identifier of the wireless device.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The identifier comprises a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier C-RNTI.

23. The method according to claim 17, wherein The indication of one or more LBT failures includes an indication of persistent LBT failures experienced by the wireless device.

24. The method according to claim 17, wherein The indication of one or more LBT failures relates to a specific cell, and wherein the specific cell is not served by the base station.

25. The method according to claim 17, wherein The transmission of the report message is triggered after the wireless device detects an event, and the event is preferably one or more of: a threshold number of LBT failures occurring within a time period; and a channel occupancy exceeding a threshold.

26. The method according to claim 17, wherein The report message may also include one or more of the following: an indication of channel occupancy; and An indication of LBT statistics, the indication of LBT statistics comprising one or more of: the number of LBT failures; the number of LBT successes; the ratio between the number of LBT failures and the number of LBT successes; the LBT failure rate.

27. The method according to claim 17, wherein The mitigation action preferably comprises one or more of the following: handover to another cell; cell activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; bandwidth part activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; carrier activation, deactivation, addition, release or switching; Channel activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switching; subband activation, deactivation, addition, release, or switching; RRC connection establishment; And RRC state switching.

28. The method of claim 17, further comprising one or more of the following: sending (402) a configuration message to the wireless device, the configuration message including a configuration for reporting LBT failure by the wireless device; and An indication of one or more LBT failures detected by the wireless device is sent (408) to one or more network nodes.

29. The method according to claim 17, wherein The mitigation action includes one or more of the following: switching the wireless device to one or more other cells; switching the wireless device to one or more other BWPs; switching the wireless device from one serving carrier to one or more other carriers; switching the wireless device from one serving channel or subband to one or more other channels or subbands; reconfiguring one or more RAN functions, such as PUCCH configuration, PDCCH configuration, RACH configuration, DRX configuration, SRS configuration, timing advance configuration or data transmission related functions; reconfiguring radio link failure declaration or triggering conditions; changing the RRC state of the wireless device; changing the scheduling rate or scheduling priority of the wireless device; increasing the transport block size scheduled for the wireless device in one or more UL grants; and switching the operating frequency band of the cell.

30. A wireless device (610; 700), comprising: - a processing circuit (620) configured to cause the wireless device to: sending a report message to a network node, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device, wherein the report message also includes an indication of a mitigation action that the wireless device will preferably take to mitigate the LBT failure; and - a power supply circuit (637) configured to supply power to the wireless device.

31. The wireless device of claim 30, wherein: The processing circuit is further configured to cause the wireless device to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 to 16.

32. A base station (660), comprising: - a processing circuit (670) configured to cause the base station to: receiving a report message from a wireless device, the report message including an indication of one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) failures experienced by the wireless device, wherein the report message also includes an indication of a mitigation action that the wireless device will preferably take to mitigate the LBT failure; and In response to receiving the report message, initiating a mitigation action; - a power supply circuit (687) configured to supply power to the base station; The mitigation action is initiated for a wireless device group including the wireless device, and the wireless device group: belongs to the same serving cell; utilizes the same carrier; utilizes the same active bandwidth portion; utilizes the same channel; utilizes the same subband; utilizes the same beam; utilizes the same set of beams; utilizes the same sector; has the same UE category; has the same UE capabilities; accesses the same or similar services; has similar business patterns or characteristics; has sent a report message indicating high channel occupancy or high LBT failure rate; or failed to send data on one or more allocated UL grants.

33. The base station according to claim 32, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to cause the base station to perform the method according to any one of claims 18 to 29.

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